Thursday,
SR
February 15,
1990
Mounties Edge North Gaston,
Girls Barely Miss Big Upset
Kings Mountain's Mountaineers
almost blew a 25-point lead before
defeating North Gaston's Wildcats
84-72 in Southwestern 3-A
Conference basketball action
Friday night at North Gaston.
Kings Mountain's girls, trying
“for their third straight SWC upset,
blew a 19-point lead as North
Gaston came from behind in the
fourth quarter for a 52-49 lead
which kept them tied for first place
with Shelby.
The Mountaineers, aided by
South Point's 81-79 victory over R-
S Central, were able to open a 1
1/2 game lead in the boys race. The
Mountaineers host R-S Friday
night in a game which could give
KM Coach Larry Sipe his first con-
ference championship as a head
coach.
"North Gaston is the type team
that is capable of beating any-
body," Sipe said after his team's
18th victory in 19 games. "We got
a great effort from all of our play-
ers. They were really relaxed com-
ing over here."
The Mountaineers built a 24-15
lead after the first period and were
on top by 51-32 at halftime. They
increased the lead to 25 points ear-
ly in the third period before North
Gaston started a comeback bid that
cut the margin to five points
halfway through the fourth quarter.
"We got a great effort from our
bench," Sipe said. "Darius Ross
and Ryan Hollifield did a good job
in reserve roles and when we lost
the lead Rodgerick McClain came
back in and got us back under con-
Wrestlers
egional
Champions
Kings Mountain High's wrestlers
won their first Western Regional
championship Saturday at Enka,
edging the host Jets in the 15-team
event. :
The Mountaineers scored 179
points to 164 for Enka. Following
those two were R-S Central with
126 1/2 points, Brevard 92 1/2,
West Henderson 86 1/2, East
Henderson 86, T.C. Roberson 59
1/2, Pisgah 56, North Buncombe
48, Shelby 48, West Caldwell 41,
Burns 20, Smoky Mountain 18,
Hibriten 11 and Franklin 0.
Kings Mountain placed seven
men in the finals and four of them
won their weight class. Eight KM
wrestlers qualified for this week-
end's state individual championship
meet at High Point Andrews.
"All of our guys did a great job,"
said KM Coach Steve Moffitt,
whose club earlier won the
Southwestern 3-A Conference reg-
ular season and tournament titles.
"After the second round, we still
had all 13 of our guys in it but
Enka came back and really gave us
a run for the championship,"
Moffitt said. "We had seven in the
finals and Enka had five. I told our
kids that we couldn't worry about
what Enka was doing, that we just
had to go out there and do our best
See Champs, 5-A
SUPERSPORT
trol. I was pleased with the way we
handled it down the stretch.”
Daniel Honeycutt led the KM
offense with 34 points, his career
high. Ross scored 14 in a reserve
role and Mark Byers added 10. Era
Vaughn grabbed 13 rebounds for
the Mounties. Jason Carter scored
21, Shawn Woods 19 and Larry
Benton 18 for North Gaston.
The Wildcats cut the big KM
lead to five points (71-66) with
four minutes to play but couldn't
- come any closer. Heneycutt hit a
stop and pop off a fast break to
male it 73-46 and the Mounties
were able to increase the lead back
to double figures after a pair of
Vaughn free throws and another
Honeycutt basket. :
Kings Mountain built the big
first half lead on Honeycutt's
shooting clinic and a dominating
inside game led by Vaughn, Byers
and Darian Hager.
“It was the first time in the last
three games that we've scored a
three-point goal and the first time
in three games that we've gone into
halftime with the lead," Sipe said.
"We're really relaxed now. It's been
a great season and we just hope it
continues."
sdkok
Kings Mountain's girls held a
19-point lead with less than three
minutes remaining in the third
quarter but couldn't stand up to
North Gaston's pressing defense
and the hot-shooting hand on
Chastity Friday in the fourth quar-
ter.
See North, 6-A
AARON ALLEN
2
HELPS LEAD KM WIN - Marcus Byers gets off a shot against
Shelby in Tuesday night's Southwest Conference basketball game at
the KMHS gym. The Mountaineers had to come from behind in the
fourth quarter to win 65-58. KM hosts R-S Central in a first place
showdown Friday night.
KM swimmer wins conference title
KM Swimmers Qualify For Regionals
Kings Mountain's boys finished
third and the girls fourth in the
Southwestern 3-A Conference
swim meet Wednesday afternoon at
Neisler Natatorium.
The boys compiled 49 points.
East Rutherford won the event with
134 points, followed by Shelby
with 35. After KM came R-S
Central with 39 and South Point
with 31.
Shelby won the girls title with
95 points, followed by East
Rutherford 85, South Point 63, KM
50 and R-S 30.
The top swimmers from KM
will go to Lenoir-Rhyne College
Friday and Saturday for the
Western Regional meet. Top finish-
ers there will advance to the state
championship February 26 at
Chapel Hill.
Aaron Allen won the only con-
ference championship for the
Mountaineers, finishing first in the
100 yard free style in 54.67 sec-
onds.
By finishing first, Allen earned
All-Conference recognition. Two
KM girls who finished second also
made All-Conference. They were
Paula Eckard in the 200 individual
medley and 500 free style and
Marie Mayse in the 100 breast
stroke.
Third place finishers for KM in-
cluded the boys 200 medley relay
team (Benji Davis,Jonathan Jones,
Allen and Todd Bell), the boys 400
free style relay team (James Goad,
David Stout, Jones and Bell), and
Benji Davis in the 100 back stroke.
Finishing fourth were the girls
200 medley relay team (Gail
Hardin, Mayse, Eckard and Emily
Campbell), Hardin in the 100 back
See Swim, 5-A
Mounties Come From Behind
Tuesday To Edge Shelby 65-58
The first place Kings Mountain
boys and Shelby girls both had to
fight off upset bids in
Southwestern 3-A Conference bas-
ketball action Tuesday night at the
KMHS gym. Both teams came
from behind in the fourth quarter to
win, the Shelby ladies by a 44-37
margin and the KM boys by 65-58.
The Mountaineers, 8-1 in the
conference and 19-1 overall, will
face their toughest test of the sea-
son Friday when R-S Central
comes to the KMHS gym. It's the
last regular season home game for
the Mountaineers and "Senior
Night" is planned. Kings Mountain
closes out the regular season next
Tuesday night at South Point.
The Mountaineers can clinch
their first conference championship
of the Larry Sipe coaching era by
defeating R-S Friday. The
Hilltoppers come into the game
with a 7-2 conference mark and
must defeat the Mountaineers to
have a chance of winning the title.
R-S handed KM its only loss earli-
er in the year at R-S.
Shelby, 1-8 in the SWC and 2-18
overall, almost cast a new light on
the R-S Central-KM showdown
Tuesday night. For most of the first
3 1/2 quarters the Golden Lions
held the lead over the taller and
more experienced Mountaineers,
but in the end Kings Mountain's
quickness was the difference.
Kings Mountain led 9-2 during
the early going but Shelby came
back to go ahead by as many as
three. Ryan Hollifield and Darius
Ross came off the bench to give
KM a late first quarter spark which
resulted in three consecutive bas-
kets and a 19-16 lead at the quarter
break.
The Lions came back to lead by
» 35-33 at intermission and built an
eight point lead (45-37) less than
three minutes into the third quarter
following a three-point field goal
by their leading scorer, Chad Ross.
Shelby held a 47-43 edge going
into the fourth quarter but the
Mountaineers, who began to clear
the boards and get their transition
game going, finally grabbed the
lead (50-49) on a jumper by Mark
Byers with 5:39 left.
The rebounding of Byers and
Vaughn and the offensive quick-
ness of Ross and Petie McNeal
were too much for Shelby in the fi-
nal four minutes. Vaughn scored
off an assist by McNeal to give
KM a 53-49 lead with 4:10 left.
Ross hit a 15-foot jumper, assisted
Honeycutt on a layup and then hit a
pair of free throws as the
Mountaineers stretched the lead to
59-53 with 1:53 left.
After a timeout by Shelby, the
Mountaineers went into a delay
game and forced the Lions into a
fouling situation. McNeal hit five
of six free throws and Ross added
another to put the game on ice.
McNeal finished with 16 points
to lead the KM scoring. Vaughn
added 12, Honeycutt 11 and Ross
10. Byers had a game-high 10 re-
bounds and Vaughn added six.
Chad Ross led the Shelby attack
with 22. Chad Lavender added 15
and Eric Wilson 14.
See Shelby, 5-A
Excitement Starts To Build
As Baseball Practice Begins
Only 12 people turned out for
Kings Mountain High's first base-
ball game last season. There will
probably be more than that at the
team's first practice session
Thursday afternoon.
Second-year Coach Bruce Clark
Bruce Clark expects an enthusias-
tic group when his Mountaineer
nine opens pre-season practice at
2:45 at Lancaster Field.
Clark has 13 players back from
last year's team which won the
school's first-ever state 3-A cham-
pionship and hit a state record 51
home runs.
Heading the list of returnees is
the state's all-time home run king,
Paul Brannon, who hit 20 round
trippers last spring and has 25 in
two years. Brannon was voted
most valuable player in the state
championship series and hit at least
one home run in his last seven
games.
Brannon, who made news state-
wide last year with his 20 dingers
and team-leading .474 batting aver-
age, will be an early news maker
this year. The all-state first base-
man plans to make a big switch to
the catcher's position as Coach
Clark and his staff try to plug the
few positions left vacant by gradu-
ation.
"Our only other catcher is
Raymond Couch, a sophomore,
and he's probably a better defen-
sive catcher than Paul," says Coach
PAUL BRANNON
Clark. "But physically, he has a
weaker arm. Paul hasn't caught in a
long time but it should be an easy
transition for him."
Other returning players include
pitcher Keith Allen, the winning
pitcher in the state championship
10-0 win over Rockingham County
last year; second baseman Chris
Henson, shortstop Chris Plonk,
third baseman Jon Reid, outfield-
ers Chris Bullock, Brian Dellinger,
Eric Peppard, Daniel Honeycutt,
Chip Cash, and Shane Sessoms,
and designated hitter Chad Plonk.
Newcomers include Darius
Ross, Scottie Hopper, Petie
McNeal, Jonathan Hicks, Jeff
Rogers, and Tommy Payne.
See Baseball, 6-A
BUD BUMGARDNER
This Bud's For The Mounties
By GARY STEWART
Editor of the Herald
When Kings Mountain's
Mountaineers open baseball prac-
tice this afternoon at Lancaster
Field, one of their biggest fans and
friends will be there to cheer them
on, give them tips and do what he
can to make their season an enjoy-
able one.
Bud Bumgardner, who is a vol-
unteer assistant coach in Bruce
Clark's program, has loved baseball
since he was a tot and he's never
felt comfortable away from the
game.
Bumgardner's not a trained
coach but anyone who has been
associated with him through the
years will quickly tell you he's one
of the keys in the successful
Mountaineer program.
Bumgardner has always been an
outgoing, fun-loving person and he
carries that attitude over into his
coaching. It helps keep the players
loose, helps keep him young and
brings a pleasant atmosphere to the
Kings Mountain side of the field.
Bumgardner played high school
and legion ball here in the fifties.
He said he was fortunate to play
under two good coaches, Fred
Withers at the high school and ex-
major league catcher Jake Early in
the legion program.
"Jake was a super guy," he re-
called. "He really looked after his
players. He really helped me a lot
as a catcher. I was on the first le-
gion team that Jake coached here,
and the things he taught me were
probably responsible for me having
my best year in high school ball the
following year."
Bumgardner said he didn't have
the size to further his sports career
but he managed to stay associated
with sports as a player from 1952
until 1972. He played fast pitch
softball for several years and then
switched to slow pitch as it became
more popular in this area.
Bumgardner said it was an old-
timers legion baseball game in
1965 that resulted in his becoming
a high school coach.
"I had known Barry Gibson for
years, but we played in that old-
timers game and got to know each
other better," he said. "In 1975,
when I began teaching welding at
the high school and he was the
head baseball coach, I went and
asked him if I could help out.
There wasn't any money allocated
for an assistant baseball coach and
I didn't really expect any. I just
See Bumgardner, 6-A
TT ee eT